1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to liquid containment and dispensing devices which are hand held and resealable, as well as to devices which incorporate use-cycle counting mechanisms.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
The uses of liquid pharmaceutical agent dispensing bottles:
Many liquid pharmaceutical agents prescribed for repeated therapeutic use and solutions used for the maintenance of eye contact lenses are distributed in plastic squeeze-bottles. These agents typically are dispensed by the user through an orifice which is covered by a screw-on or snap-on cap when not in use.
The necessity of keeping track of use cycles with liquid pharmaceutical and eye contact lens liquid agents:
End users of eye contact lens solutions and therapeutic eye drops are faced with the necessity of keeping track of the number of dispensings performed in a given period of time, or the total number of executions of an associated activity. For example, therapeutic eye drops may be prescribed for use four times per day. As a second example, disposable soft eye contact lenses are often prescribed for 14 days of wear with nightly removal, cleaning and storage prior to disposal. Wearers must keep track of the total number of days during which a particular pair of such lenses has been worn. These counts are often important to the management of existing diseases and to the prevention of new disease states. Keeping count mentally is a method offering poor accuracy.
Devices which allow use cycle tracking for pharmaceutical agents:
A number of mechanical devices are known which allow patients to keep track of their utilization of pills. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,528,933 to Allen, July, 1985, 4,634,012 to Kelley, January, 1987 and 5,356,012 to Tang and Yang, October, 1994 describe pill bottles with fully removable caps in which automatic indexing devices are incorporated for the purpose of tracking dispensing cycles. These cannot be used for dispensing liquids in a controlled fashion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,636,469 to McKay, January, 1952, describes a capsule dispenser which indicates the fact that the container has been opened and a capsule has been removed during sequential time periods. McKay's device differs from the current invention in that it has a cap which slides linearly and is held captive on the container. It has neither facility for sealing, nor a nozzle nor a hinged nozzle cap and cannot be used for dispensing liquids in a controlled fashion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,822 to Rand et al, April, 1989, describes a use cycle counting device attached to an aerosol bottle such as those used for dispensing inhalable atomized medications. The device of Rand et al differs from the current invention in that it uses a pressurized aerosol cannister rather than a manually deformable squeeze bottle. Indexing is by linear compression of the nozzle toward the bottle, rather than detachment of a hinged nozzle cap in an arcuate manner. The device of Rand et al has neither a hinge nor an attached nozzle cap for the isolation of the nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,099 to Herr, May, 1973, describes a use cycle counting cigarette lighter wherein opening and closing the cover serves to index a ratchet wheel. Herr's device differs from the current invention in that it includes a rigid case rather than a manually deformable squeeze bottle, an aperture containing a wick rather than a nozzle and means for striking a spark.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,565,302 to Pfeiffer et al, January, 1986 and 5,174,473 to Marelli, December, 1992, describe use cycle counting devices attached to bottles of the type used for dispensing nasal spray. These devices differ from the current invention in that they include piston pumps for expelling liquid contents rather than relying upon the generation of pressure by squeezing a manually deformable bottle. Indexing is by linear compression of the a collar toward the bottle, rather than detachment of a hinged nozzle cap in an arcuate manner. The device of Pfeiffer et al and the device of Marelli have neither hinges, nor attached nozzle caps, nor indexing means attached to the nozzle caps for the isolation of the nozzles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,982 to Maxwell and Crisp, June, 1980, describes a pill bottle with an automatically indexing flip-top closure which remains attached to the bottle. It does not provide facility for incorporation of a fluid-tight seal and, likewise, cannot be used for dispensing liquids in a controlled fashion.
The patient's memory is generally relied upon as assurance of proper dosing and dispensing of medications and use of eye contact lens solutions. Calendars and paper records are often recommended, but their utility is limited by the user's diligence and ability in keeping the records up-to-date. A contact lens storage case is known which provides a manually operated wheel, bearing a sequence of numerals to keep a running total of days of use, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,834 to Berkley, January, 1994. Effective use of this device depends upon the patient's diligence and ability in indexing the wheel exactly once for each daily cycle as the device does not provide for automatic operation.
A device with a manually rotatable element has been applied to a liquid dispenser as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,157 to Hevoyan, October, 1985. This device similarly depends upon manual operation and user diligence and ability in proper indexing, having no facility for automatic operation.